Mad About Cars

Five times World Rally Champion Sebastian Loeb confirmed that he’s ready to try his luck by racing a Formula One car instead of the WRC:

If Toro Rosso need a driver I’d love to help out.

Sports Daily l’Equipe was interviewing the French driver who made a Citroen’s Xara WRC a legend by winning in it five time in the row. He also mentioned that as long as the F1 and Rally calendars won’t overlap he is available for Toro Rosso. The Red Bull team was doing some tests last year using the French driver in Barcelona.

But the good news is that there is no way Sebastian Loeb could start racing in F1 and forget about WRC, according to Citroen’s Rally boss Oliver Quesnel. At least for this season.

2009 and Norway sees its first rally stages accompanied by the phenomenal Sebastien Loeb and crew…

8 stages to complete and its looking promising – lots of snow, the sun is shining, and the stages are beautiful.

This really is a Super-Rally! Not like Sweden where its slush on muddy roads with stones emerging, here its -30’c degrees, blazing sun and a complete white-out everywhere! Perfect conditions for a winter Rally!

The first leg was always going to be a tackler with narrow stages and unpacked snow. They were expecting to lag behind here until…

The second leg, he attacked this morning with no mistakes, staying ahead despite of their position as the opening car…

And by the third, Sebastien had smashed it! – what a pleasure to win this kind of race where he was not the favourite to win for once. A real challenge and paid off!

One of the most iconic cars in automotive history is that of the Citroen DS. Launched in 1955, its futuristic Bertoni styling stood the test of time, and various innovative features, including hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension, helped ensure the car stood the test of time, with relatively light modifications during its 21 year production run. The car helped cement Citroen’s image as a dynamic, innovative car company.
A hit from the very first few minutes of its launch, the car signalled a new dawn for French engineering after the country suffered during World War II.
The DS was well ahead of its time, being one of the first production cars to feature disc brakes, with one of its most famous innovations being its hydropneumatic suspension. This gave the car a smooth, luxurious ride that few, if any of it rivals could match. This also made it a success on the rally circuit, winning the Monte Carlo Rally in 1959 and 1966.
The car’s angular, narrow design remained popular well into the 1970s, and was one of the few luxury cars that led even the German car makers in desirability. However, as the decade wore on, the car began to look increasingly dated and the DS was eventually replaced by the CX, regarded by Citroen enthusiasts as the last ‘true’ Citroen, before Peugeot took the company over.
Today, DS cars are very distinctive and eye-catching on the road, and the car is considered to be one of the most important cars of the 20th century. Because of this, used prices are very high, with even tatty restoration models being exchanged for over £1,000. Pristine examples of the car are known to exchange hand for anything up to £10,000.

The success of the hit BBC drama/sitcom ‘Gavin and Stacey’ has seen the Citroen SaxoVTR play a starring role as the car of main character Gavin Shipman (Mathew Horne), and once again come back into the limelight. A popular sight on Britain’s roads the car’s cheap insurance and running costs have made it popular with young drivers since its launch, and it has gained something of a ‘boy racer’ reputation, a little unfortunate given the car’s impressive performance.

The Saxo VTR was first launched in late 1996, replacing the Citroen AX GT, which had been a modest seller. The VTR’s fresh, sporty looks, low insurance group and impressive performance (98bhp as standard) soon made it a hit, with young drivers taking advantage of the car’s low purchase price and running costs.

A facelifted version of the original VTR appeared in 1999, and in the following year the facelifted ‘Series 2’ version of the car was launched, featuring a revised frontal design and minor alterations to the engine.

The car continued until 2003, when it was succeeded by the Citroen C2 VTR.
Today, Saxo VTR models are a common sight on the roads, and with even the latest models now five years old, prices have tumbled with even the tidiest, most recent cars selling for little more than £3,000. With plenty of abused ‘boy racer’ cars about it is generally better to look for a tidy, well-maintained standard car than one that has seen extensive